Boulders, Caps, Deltasaurus Rex, Dana Linn Bailey.
Whatever you choose to call the set of muscles that stand guard on either side of your head, there’s one thing they all have in common. They’re all synonyms for arguably one of the most beautiful body parts humans possess (when well-developed, that is).
Alas, there are so many different opinions on how best to approach your shoulder training that it can lead to serious information overload. The ensuing confusion often yields a haphazard approach to trying to elicit some growth from your stubborn caps. Fear not, my friend. In what’s to follow we’re going to unearth some in the trenches tips and tricks that will serve you well on your quest for gargantuan shoulders.
Delts of Doom
If there’s one thing I craved as I began to develop what seems to be a potentially (likely) lifelong obsession with bodybuilding, it was round, capped, cannonball-sized deltoids.
As many kids did, I’d grown up reading various Marvel comics and Asterisk & Obelisk. I watched any superhero movie I could get my hands on.
The one common characteristic that many of my idols from those stories possessed? A capped pair of deltoids that looked like they could take down Jack Sparrow’s beloved Black Pearl if fired from a cannon. Naturally, the power their physiques had over me drove me to figure out how I could build up my shoulders. I wanted to emulate the look that evoked such awe in me as a child. This led to hours of reading about HOW the deltoids function, WHAT their functions translate to in terms of training for hypertrophy, and WHAT I could do to maximize their development. Now I’m going to share what I’ve learned with you, so that in three months you can have the utmost pleasure of showing people your cannons.
Anatomy and Function of the Delts
“Through understanding how the shoulders function, we can better understand how to train them effectively.” Image courtesy of bodybuilding.com
Posterior Deltoid
Comprising Muscles: The posterior deltoid primarily consists of the levator scapulae, rhomboid major/minor, and the teres major.
Functions: This grouping is responsible for elevating and retracting the scapula, as well as extending and rotating your humerous.
Exercise ideas: Gironda raises, rear delt cable flies, MTN dog swings, face pulls w/external rotation
Anterior Deltoid
Comprising Muscles: The anterior deltoid primarily consists of the pec minor, pec major, coracoid process, and the subclavius.
Functions: These muscles are responsible for drawing your scapula forward and downward, raising of the ribs, and keeping your clavicle steady during movement.
Exercise ideas: Barbell, dumbbell, cable, banded front raises, overhead/high incline presses
Middle Deltoid
Comprising Muscles: The middle deltoid primarily consists of the Serratus anterior, supraspinatus, infraspinatus, teres minor, and the subscapularis.
Functions: The middle muscles are responsible for arm rotation, abduction of the arm, arm flexion, and scapular abduction.
Exercise ideas: Standing/seated lateral raises w/ db’s, leaning away cable lateral raises, upright cable rows, overhead presses
Being that there are so many damn muscles that comprise the shoulder girdle, you’d be remiss if you didn’t train them all.
Best Delt Training Practices
For the most part (everybody varies to some degree), the shoulders are primarily comprised of slow twitch (type 1) muscle fibres.
This means that the muscles of the deltoid group possess slow contraction times in comparison to fast twitch muscle fibres. They also have a rather high resistance to fatigue.
Due to the inherent makeup of the shoulder muscles, they can handle a ton of volume. This means reps, upon reps, upon reps, and sets, upon sets, upon sets. Use this to your advantage. It’s time to try taking your traditional approach to training shoulders and flip it upon its head. Instead of hitting them 1-2x week, try reducing your daily volume JUST A BIT, and then train them every other day. Yes, you read that correctly. Every other day. No, you won’t lose muscle. No, you won’t roll over and die. Your shoulders, however, will look a damn sight better. Doing so also defaults to upping your training frequency. The great bodybuilders of the Golden Age trained each body part every 2-4 days for a REASON. It works. Really, really well.
Keep in mind, this doesn’t have to be complex. When I was experimenting with my approach to shoulder training, I cut out what was an entire session dedicated to building cannonball delts. My plan was to do 5 sets of 20 for side laterals and 5 sets of 20 for rear delt flies on the pec deck. On chest days I’d also do 4-6 hard sets of some form of overhead press. I took an entire 60min session that was flooded with volume, broke it down to 3-4 exercises, and performed it every other day. This was the last switch I needed to flip in order to see some tangible growth in my caps.
YOUR ACTION STEP: Go forth, and put what you’re reading into practice. Don’t just sit around and think about it.
I’m not going to sit here and pretend that this will magically work for everybody. However, I believe it to be effective enough that it warrants playing around with for 4-6 weeks at the least. Hit your shoulders quickly, for high, high reps and hit them frequently over the course of the week. Do. Not. Forget. To. Train. With. Intensity.
“Go forth and put what you’re READING about into PRACTICE.” Image courtesy of: t-nation.com
Deltosaurus Rex Shoulder Blast
I thoroughly enjoy writing and speaking about the ins and outs of training different muscles.
That enjoyment, combined with a desire to SHOW you what I’m talking about as opposed to merely rambling on, leads me to post a sample routine that exemplifies my outlook. This way you get to reap the benefits of physically feeling what I’m talking about.
As such, below is a quick and dirty shoulder session you can take for a spin. Perform this either at the beginning or end of your regularly scheduled session. Aim to do it every other day. If you do this consistently for 4-6 weeks I can promise you that you’ll start to see some development occur.
A1. Standing/Seated Lateral Raises with DB’s or KB’s 5×20
Lead with your elbows and keep your pinkies high.
A2. Seated Dumbbell Overhead Press 5×8
Flex for 2s at the top of each rep.
B1. Reverse Pec Deck Flies 40/30/20/10/20
Pyramid up in weight. The second set of 20 should be with the same weight as the set of 10. 45s rest.
As you move through the weeks you’re more than welcome to swap different exercises in and out. Be sure to keep the structure the same, though. For example, pairing high rep lateral movements with lower rep pressing. Followed with high, high volume rear deltoid work. The exercises can vary, but the format in which you perform them should remain constant.
To fly in the face of many, I’m not opposed to training the anterior portion of the delts. In fact, I actually enjoy doing so and love little more than a well developed set of front delts. If you’re feeling extra vivacious, mix in 4-6 sets of front barbell raises on your chest day. Do this in conjunction with your overhead or incline pressing, and your shoulder girdle will be LIT UP.
What We’ve Learned Today
At this point you should be well-educated and equipped to inject a bit of sizzle and spice into your shoulder training game.
We’ve gone over the anatomy and functions of your shoulders. Doing so taught you how they typically respond best to training (in principle).
From that, we’re able to understand how to approach your training in order to get optimal results. Lastly, I’ve written an easy to implement shoulder blast so you can IMMEDIATELY put into practice what we’ve talked about here. The giant set below differs from the add on shoulder session from earlier. Above, we’re chasing the addition of volume and frequency to aid in growth. What’s below would be a good addition to a chest day. With proper execution, it will really blast your shoulders. If you’re crunched for time or feeling a little bit saucy on a “rest day,” you could even go to the gym and run through this 3-4 times.
Dana Linn Bailey-esque Shoulder Session
“The Girl’s got DELTS. We can learn from her.” Image courtesy of bodybuilding.com
A1. Cable Rear Delt Flies 15-20 reps
Move through these nice and slowly, pause in each contraction for 1s.
A2. Cable Side Laterals 10-15 reps per arm.
Slow with 2s hold in the peak contraction.
A3. Machine Shoulder Press 15,10,8
Pyramid up in weight and down in reps each time you cycle through.
A4. Dumbbell Side Laterals 15,10,8
Pyramid up in weight and down in reps each time you cycle through.
A5. Dumbbell Front Raises 12-8-6×3
EACH SET consists of a triple drop set. 12 reps, drop weight, 8 reps, drop weight, 6 reps, rest. Same thing on the next two rounds.
Rest for 90s and repeat giant set for 3 rounds.
Bonus for Those with Aesthetically-Driven Insanity
Immediately after finishing the dumbbell front raises, I want you to spend the first 30s of your rest period standing, holding the dumbbells by your side.
Doing so helps to create a loaded stretch effect. Loaded stretches just so happen to be simply phenomenal.
Some benefits I’ve noticed from implementing these include better pumps via increased blood flow (stretching the muscles and subsequently the fascia covering has proven to be very effective to this end), improved recovery and reduced muscle soreness. I attribute the latter two to the improved blood flow bringing in more nutrients than you would otherwise. If you do these weighted, perform them after your last rep of your final set of an exercise and use a load that’s relatively light. Don’t push against it, turning it into an isometric hold. Instead, let the weight push down on you.
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Phew. I believe your delts won’t need much more than that for a while. I CHALLENGE you to put these sessions into practice. Let me know how these two go for you, and drop me a note in the comments or on social media. I’d love to chat with you once you’ve gone through it a few times.
About the Author
Alex
is a self proclaimed anti-meathead and part time nerd. When he's not working towards Greek God status or learning how to better serve his clients, he can be found exploring how to crush life, perfecting his flair in the kitchen, or pull the perfect shot of espresso. You can learn what he's all about at www.MASSthetics.net and take a peek into his behind the scenes on Snapchat.
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